Systems and methods for dynamic quality of service

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and apparatus for routing are provided in which a connection track comprising a plurality of network or transport layer packets, received by a router, is identified by examination of header fields of one or more first packets in the plurality of packets. One or more quality of service (QoS) parameters is associated with the connection track by determining whether the track encodes a data type by (i) an identification of a predetermined application protocol used within the one or more first packets and/or (ii) a comparison of a payload of one or more packets in the plurality of packets to known data type formats. A first QoS parameter is set to a first value in a first value range when the connection track contains the first data type. The connection track is routed through the router in accordance with the one or more QoS parameters assigned to the connection track.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional under 35 U.S.C. §121 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/805,604, filed May 24, 2007 and entitled “Systems and Methods for Dynamic Quality of Service,” which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/805,471, abandoned, filed May 22, 2007 and entitled “Systems and Methods for Dynamic Quality of Service,” the entire contents of both of which are incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems and methods for dynamic QoS routing where a connection track comprising data is routed from source to destination by a router path that satisfies the QoS (e.g., bandwidth and delay) requirements of the connection track.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many IP routers typically support only “best effort” traffic. However, the bandwidth available to people has been increasing rapidly with the advent of broadband access. The result is that many new services are now desired that require better QoS than “best effort” IP can support. Also, with broadband, the problem of controlling the total usage and carrier expense has become important. Thus, it has become necessary to improve both the delay performance and the control of bandwidth for IP service, much as was accomplished in ATM. Also, call rejection for high bandwidth streaming services like video is required instead of random discards if quality is to be maintained.

Moreover, new quality of service (QoS) standards require that network devices, such as network switches, address these requirements. For example, the IEEE 802.1 standard divides network traffic into several classes of service based on sensitivity to transfer latency, and prioritizes these classes of service. The highest class of service is recommended for network control traffic, such as switch-to-switch configuration messages. The remaining classes are recommended for user traffic. The two highest user traffic classes of service are generally reserved for streaming audio and streaming video.

If all paths within a network are fully loaded, some networks discard packets. Discarding correctly is an important component for achieving efficient QoS for data transmissions. Internet applications tend to quickly fill all of the buffers on a conventional network. Algorithms such as random early discards (“RED”), which are proportional to the buffer fill, can save the switch from becoming overloaded by such Internet applications, but unfortunately interferes with the QoS of such transmissions. In one example, for TCP, a conventional network cannot avoid discarding before the user is up to the available rate. For UDP, a conventional system cannot discard even though the stream is at an acceptable rate.

Several conventional protocols have been proposed to attempt to address existing QoS limitations in an IP network. One exemplary protocol, the resource reservation protocol (“RSVP”), is described within the Internet Engineering Task Force (“IETF”)'s request for comments (“RFC”) for “Resource ReSerVation Protocol (RSVP)—Version 1 Functional Specification” (“RFC 2205”) and “Specification of Guaranteed Quality of Service” (“RFC 2212”) was intended to allow a router flow to signal its requirements. However, the complexity and processing time involved with RSVP negotiation makes RSVP, by itself, unsatisfactory.

Another exemplary protocol, the differentiated Services (“DiffServ”) protocol is an alternative technique to RSVP, which utilizes six DiffServ bits in the IP header to indicate one of several limited QoS classes. In particular, as discussed in the IETF's “Definition of the Differentiated Services Field (DS Field) in the IPv4 and IPv6 Headers” (“RFC 2474”) and “An Architecture for Differentiated Services” (“RFC 2475”), DiffServ is intended to allow network service providers to offer to each network user a range of network services which are differentiated on the basis of performance. In such a scheme, by marking a specific field (e.g. the DS field) of each packet with a specific value, a user can request, on a packet by packet basis, a specific limited performance class level. This value would specify the per-hop behavior to be allotted to that packet within the provider's network.

Typically, the user and network provider would negotiate a policy (e.g. policing profile) that describes the rate at which traffic can be submitted at each service class level. Packets submitted in excess of this profile would not be allotted the service class level requested. An important feature of DiffServ is viewed to be its scalability, which allows the protocol to be deployed in very large networks. This scalability is achieved by forcing as much complexity out of the core of the network and into the boundary devices that process lower volumes of traffic and lesser numbers of flows. However, this protocol has significant limits that preclude DiffServ from providing an effective solution to the problems faced with implementing QoS in an IP network. For example, DiffServ is a traffic classification technique that only has six bits with a total of only thirteen general service classes defined. Four classes are reserved for assured service. One class is reserved for expedited service. There are, however, no QoS definitions to quantify each class, which thereby limits the QoS types that can be supported. Since the Internet will need to be able to carry a wide variety of QoS types, this quantification limitation greatly restricts the future use of DiffServ based QoS in large networks. By oversimplifying the QoS characterization problem by relying upon simple non-quantified classes, the overall effectiveness of such QoS in IP has been minimized.

DiffServ in the IP context also does not allow each packet to be routed with state information associated with each packet. Only one route is allowed by the border gateway protocol (“BGP”) and the routing protocols. DiffServ allows packets to be grouped by DiffServ classes and routed together as part of a composite flow. However, such composite flows may far exceed the routing path's capacity. In addition, multiple routes cannot be used because of packet ordering problems. With no state information and only DiffServ bits, the best that a conventional switch can do is to set up multiple queues, each receiving all of the packets of a specific QoS class. Within such a queue, there would be no way to avoid head-of-line blocking. Since the queues do not correspond to single micro-flows, weighted fair queuing (“WFQ”) cannot achieve an improvement in such factors as delay variation.

The IETF has proposed an alternative conventional protocol, within RFC 2702, entitled “Requirements for Traffic Engineering Over Multi Protocol Label Switching (“MPLS”).” MPLS utilizes a routing approach whereby the normal mode of operation is that the operator of the network explicitly sets up MPLS composite flows on a static basis across the network. Each MPLS composite flow also is manually assigned a QoS by the operator.

MPLS provides a simple “core” set of mechanisms which can be applied in several ways to provide a rich functionality. Since MPLS defines an architecture and protocol for encapsulating IP traffic in new routing headers, it involves a much more extensive change to conventional IP networks than Diffserv which is exclusively focused on existing routing-independent IP packet fields. The MPLS approach to indicating IP QoS parameters is different from the approach defined in Diffserv. In particular, the MPLS label is intended to improve efficiency and control of the switch network and allow switches to forward packets using predetermined paths according to, among other things, specified QoS levels.

The disadvantage of MPLS, however, like DiffServ, is that the switch can only identify a small set of “standard” QoS patterns, thereby greatly restricting the future services available to a network that requires a wide variety of QoS types to be used. Furthermore, even though MPLS allows multiple composite flows on multiple routes, there still are restrictions on multiple paths. In addition, router micro-flows still must be grouped into composite flows. Therefore, like DiffServ, when a path becomes overloaded, there is no way to reject new micro-flows or to split the composite flow into micro-flows and use alternative routes. Instead, MPLS can only drop random packets.

Another drawback with known QoS systems is that they typically require manual intervention to set up and maintain. This can be a difficult and time consuming task. Given the above background, what is needed in the art are improved systems and methods for providing QoS that are more automated and easier to use.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention overcomes the deficiencies in the prior art. One or more header fields of network layer or transport layer packets, received by a router, are examined and, based on the values found in the header fields, assigned to connection tracks. That is, those packets that are communicating the same message, such as a file, video, or audio, are assigned to the same connection track. Then, advantageously, the data type of the message carried by a connection track is determined and QoS parameters are assigned to the connection track based upon this data type. The connection track is then routed through the router in accordance with the one or more QoS parameters. This process provides the advantage of routing connection tracks based on message data type. This leads to improved router performance. Furthermore, this leads to improved control over the data being routed. For example, at times when the router is receiving too much data, the router can make intelligent decisions on which connection tracks to route and which connection tracks to drop. In one case, assume that the router can only route N streaming videos at any given time and still deliver the streaming video to endpoints in real time. If the router is receiving M connection tracks that each contain real-time streaming video, where M is greater than N, than the router can proactively drop M-N of the connection tracks in order to deliver the N connection tracks in real time to endpoints.

One aspect of the invention provides a routing method comprising identifying a connection track comprising a plurality of network layer or transport layer packets, received by a router, by examination of one or more header fields of one or more first packets in the plurality of network layer or transport layer packets. As used herein, the term “first packet” does not necessarily mean that such packets are the first packets to be received sequentially in time for a given connection track by a router. The term “first packet” merely serves to identify some or all of the packets in the plurality of packets that constitute a connection track. It will be appreciated that any subset of the packets in the plurality of packets that constitute a connection track can serve as the one or more first packets. It will also be appreciated that all of the packets in the plurality of packets in the connection track can serve as the one or more first packets. One or more quality of service (QoS) parameters are associated with the connection track by determining whether the connection track encodes a first data type. Exemplary methods by which the first data type can be determined comprise (i) an identification of a predetermined application protocol used within the one or more first packets and/or (ii) a comparison of a payload of one or more packets in the plurality of network layer or transport layer packets to one or more predetermined data type formats. A first QoS parameter in the one or more QoS parameters is set to a first value in a first value range when the connection track is determined to contain the first data type (e.g., the message encoded within the connection track is a first data type such as real-time streaming video, real-time streaming audio, etc.). Then, the connection track is routed through the router in accordance with the one or more QoS parameters.

In some embodiments, the first QoS parameter in the one or more QoS parameters is set to a second value in a second value range when the connection track is determined to not contain the first data type. In some embodiments, the first QoS parameter is a queue requirement, a path designation, or a router processor requirement.

In some embodiments, a second QoS parameter in the one or more QoS parameters is set to a second value in a second value range when the connection track is determined to contain the first data type and a third QoS parameter in the one or more QoS parameters is set to a third value in a third value range when the connection track is determined to contain the first data type. In some embodiments, the first QoS parameter is a queue requirement, the second QoS parameter is a path designation, and the third QoS parameter is a router processor requirement.

In some embodiments the first data type is video data, audio data, a photographic image, HTML, a binary executable, real-time streaming video, real-time streaming audio, or video on demand. In some embodiments, the identification of a predetermined application protocol used within the one or more first packets comprises determining whether the one or more first packets contain real-time transport protocol (RTP) information. In some embodiments, the first data type is voice data and, when the one or more first packets contain real-time transport protocol (RTP) information, the identification of a predetermined application protocol further comprises (i) determining that the connection track encodes real-time streaming video data when the one or more first data packets use the real-time streaming transport (RTSP) protocol (or an equivalent protocol) and (ii) determining that the connection track encodes real-time streaming audio data when the H.323 protocol (or an equivalent protocol) is used within the one or more first packets. As used herein, a connection track refers to those packets that encode the same message. For example, the packets that collectively encode a particular file, real-time streaming video source, real-time streaming audio source, or image form a connection track.

In some embodiments, the plurality of network layer or transport layer packets includes, but is not limited to, transmission control protocol (TCP) packets, user datagram protocol (UDP) packets, datagram congestion control packets (DCCP), stream control transmission protocol (SCTP) packets, GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP) packets, or Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) packets. In some embodiments, the router is a packet router. In other embodiments, the router is a flow router.

In one aspect, the first data type is real-time streaming video and the connection track comprises an encoded video and the associating step further comprises determining a characteristic of the encoded video. In some embodiments (i) the first QoS parameter is set to a second value in the first value range when a value of the characteristic is within second value range and (ii) the first QoS parameter is set to a third value in the first value range when a value of the characteristic is within a third value range. In some embodiments, the characteristic of the encoded video is a video code bitrate for the encoded video. In one example, the first QoS parameter is a queue requirement that is set to the second value when the video code bitrate is 0.5 Mbit/second or less. In another example, the first QoS parameter is a queue requirement that is set to the second value when the video code bitrate is 1.0 Mbit/second or less. In still another example, the first QoS parameter is a queue requirement that is set to the third value when the video code bitrate is 0.5 Mbit/second or greater. In yet another example, the first QoS parameter is a queue requirement that is set to the third value when the video code bitrate is 1.0 Mbit/second or greater.

In some embodiments, a wrapper (e.g., an additional header) encodes a packet in the plurality of network layer or transport layer packets and the associating step further comprises storing the first QoS parameter in the wrapper and an external lookup table is not used. In some embodiments, each packet in the plurality of network layer or transport layer packets is encoded with a wrapper in a plurality of wrappers, and the associating step further comprises (i) storing the one or more QoS parameters for the connection track in a lookup table and/or (ii) storing a pointer to the one or more QoS parameters for the connection tracks in each wrapper in the plurality of wrappers in a lookup table. In some embodiments, the lookup table comprises the QoS parameters for a plurality of connection tracks in the router. In some embodiments, the method further comprises purging the lookup table of the QoS parameters for a connection track in the plurality of connection tracks when the router completes routing of the connection track.

In some embodiments, the first data type is a video format and the one or more predetermined data type formats are one or more predetermined video type formats (e.g., any of the predetermined video type formats set forth in Table 2, below)

In some embodiments, the method further comprises (i) evaluating a router load and (ii) either (a) dropping one or more connection tracks based upon the first value for the first QoS parameter or (b) reducing traffic by changing the QoS parameters of one or more connection tracks when the router load exceeds a threshold value or some other network condition (e.g., network congestion) exists. The term “router load” refers to the amount of utilization of a router at a given time. Router utilization can be measured by any combination of several metrics including, but not limited to, the extent to which the router processor is being used in a given period of time, current available router bandwidth available as compared to total router bandwidth capability, router path bandwidth availability. In some embodiments, the first QoS parameter is a queue QoS requirement and the method further comprises (i) evaluating queue status and (ii) either (a) dropping one or more connection tracks from the router or (b) reducing traffic by changing the QoS parameters (e.g., router queue buffer size required by a connection track, maximum allowable delay time for a connection track, a connection track bandwidth requirement) of one or more connection tracks when the router queue status evaluation determines that the router cannot handle a particular connection track with its existing connection track QoS parameters. For example, in some embodiments the queue QoS parameter is buffer size and, upon evaluation of router queue status, (i) one or more connection tracks are either dropped when a router has no available queue available with sufficient buffer size and/or (ii) the buffer size QoS parameters for one or more connection tracks is downwardly adjusted. In another example, the connection track QoS parameter is maximum allowable delay time and, upon evaluation of router queue status, (i) one or more connection tracks are either dropped when the router cannot route the connection track within the maximum allowable delay time specified by the connection track QoS parameter and/or (ii) the maximum allowable delay time QoS parameter of one or more connection tracks is increased. In still another example, the connection track QoS parameter is a connection track bandwidth requirement and, upon evaluation of router queue status, (i) one or more connection tracks are either dropped when the router cannot route a connection track within the bandwidth requirements specified by the connection track QoS parameter for the connection track and/or (ii) the bandwidth QoS parameter of each of one or more connection tracks is decreased, and/or (iii) adjusting a maximum upload rate and/or a maximum download rate between the router and an Internet Service Provider. In some embodiments, the first QoS parameter is a router processor requirement, and the method further comprises (i) evaluating router processor load and (ii) either (a) dropping one or more connection tracks from the router and/or (b) changing QoS parameters of one or more connection tracks to reduce traffic through the router when insufficient router processor resource is available to process a connection track. In some embodiments, the first QoS parameter is path designation, and the method further comprises (i) evaluating router status and (ii) assigning a router path to the connection track based on the data type stored in the connection track, router status, and optionally router policy.

In some embodiments, the determination of whether the connection track encodes the first data type is performed by (i) the identification of the predetermined application protocol used within the one or more first packets and/or (ii) the comparison of a payload of one or more packets in the plurality of network layer or transport layer packets to one or more predetermined data type formats. In some embodiments, the determining whether the connection track encodes the first data type is further performed by determining a TCP or UDP port on which the router received the connection track. For example, such port information can serve as a preliminary indication of connection track data type, but more careful analysis is needed to confirm the preliminary indication (e.g., examination of application layer protocols used in the connection track packets and or comparison of the payload format of the connect track packets to the format of know data types).

Another aspect of the invention provides a computer-readable medium storing computer programs executable by a computer to perform a routing method comprising identifying a connection track comprising a plurality of network layer or transport layer packets, received by a router, by examination of one or more header fields of one or more first packets (e.g., examination of one packet, examination of two packets, examination of three packets, etc. in the connection track) in the plurality of network layer or transport layer packets. One or more QoS parameters are associated with the connection track by determining whether the connection track encodes a first data type by (i) an identification of a predetermined application protocol used within the one or more first packets and/or (ii) a comparison of a payload of one or more packets in the plurality of network layer or transport layer packets to one or more predetermined data type formats. A first QoS parameter in the one or more QoS parameters is set to a first value in a first value range when the connection track is determined to contain the first data type. The connection track is routed through the router in accordance with the one or more QoS parameters.

Another aspect of the invention provides an apparatus for routing data packets. The apparatus comprises a processor and a memory, coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions for execution by the processor, the instructions comprising instructions for identifying a connection track comprising a plurality of network layer or transport layer packets, received by a router, by examination of one or more header fields of one or more first packets in the plurality of packets. The instructions stored by the memory further comprise instructions for associating QoS parameters with the connection track by determining whether the connection track encodes a first data type by (i) an identification of a predetermined application protocol used within the one or more first packets and/or (ii) a comparison of a payload of one or more packets in the plurality of network layer or transport layer packets to one or more predetermined data type formats. A first QoS parameter in the one or more QoS parameters is set to a first value in a first value range when the connection track is determined to contain the first data type. The memory further comprises instructions for routing the connection track through the router in accordance with the one or more QoS parameters.

In some embodiments, the memory further comprises a lookup table and each packet in the plurality of network layer or transport layer packets is encoded with a wrapper in a plurality of wrappers. In such embodiments, the associating step further comprises (i) storing the one or more QoS parameters for the connection track in the lookup table and/or (ii) storing a pointer to the one or more QoS parameters for the connection tracks in each wrapper in the plurality of wrappers in a lookup table. In some embodiments, the lookup table comprises the QoS parameters for a plurality of connection tracks in the router. In some embodiments, the memory further comprises instructions for purging the lookup table of the QoS parameters for a connection track when the router completes routing of the connection track.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a first system that includes a router for routing data.

FIG. 2 illustrates a process for routing data.

FIG. 3 illustrates a second system that includes a router for routing data.

Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more header fields of network layer or transport layer packets, received by a router, are examined and, based on the values found in the header fields, assigned to connection tracks. For example, in some embodiments, transmission control packets (TCP) are received and the source port, destination port, and/or sequence number headers are examined. TCP packets that have the same source port, destination port, and a unique sequence number are assigned to the same connection track. In this manner, those packets that are communicating the same message are assigned to the same connection track. Then, advantageously, the data type of the message carried by the connection track is determined and, from this data type, QoS parameters are assigned to the connection track.

In some embodiments, the first attempt to determine the data type of the message carried by the connection track comprises attempting to identify an application protocol used within one or more packets in the connection track. As used herein, a connection track refers to those packets that encode the same message. For example, the packets that collectively encode a particular file, real-time streaming video, real-time streaming audio, still image or audio source form a connection track. In one example, if a packet in the connection track uses real-time transport protocol (RTP), than the packet can be further examined to determine if the packet is associated with an RTP control protocol packet. If so, than the data type of the message contained in the connection track is deemed to be video. On the other hand, if the packet uses RTP, and further contains H.323, than the data type of the message contained in the connection track is deemed to be audio because H.323 is predominantly used for audio applications such as voice over Internet. In another example, the HTTP protocol can carry either HTML data or real-time streaming video. Thus, if a packet in the connection track uses the HTTP protocol, than the packet can be further examined to determine if the packet contains HTML. If the packet does contain HTML, than the data type of the message contained in the connection track is deemed to be HTML. On the other hand, if the packet uses a real-time streaming video protocol, than the data type of the message contained in the connection track is deemed to be real-time streaming video. It will be appreciated that for some protocols, more than one packet will need to be examined in order to verify that the above-identified protocols are present in the connection track packets.

If the attempt to determine the data type of the message contained within the connection track by examination of one or more packets for application layer protocols is not successful, than the payload of one or more packets in the connection track is compared to one or more predetermined data type formats. For example, the payload can be compared to the format of MPEG-4 video format to determine if the message type is video.

Once the data type of the message contained in a connection track is determined (e.g., by determining one or more application protocols contained within one or more packets and/or comparison of the payload of one or more packets to known data types), QoS parameters are assigned to the connection track. For example, if the connection track contains a message having a real-time streaming video message type, QoS parameters that will ensure that the video is streamed to an endpoint at a rate that will prevent noticeable interruption of the video are assigned to the connection track. If the message type is real-time streaming audio, QoS parameters that will ensure that the audio is streamed to an endpoint at a rate that will prevent interruption of the audio are assigned to the connection track. Other exemplary message types that are assigned unique QoS parameters include, but are not limited to, non-streaming video, non-streaming audio, web pages, FTP transmissions, and HTML.

Once the data type of the message contained in a connection track is determined, the message track is routed through the router in accordance with the one or more QoS parameters assigned to the connection track. This process provides the advantage of routing connection tracks based on data type. Moreover, the QoS parameters assigned to a connection track can optionally be used in conjunction with QoS parameters imposed by an Internet Service Provider or other QoS parameters (e.g., the IEEE 802.1 standard). The inventive process leads to improved router performance. At times when the router is receiving too much data, the inventive process allows the router to make intelligent decisions about which connection tracks to route and which connection tracks to drop. For example, assume that the router can only route N streaming videos at any given time and still deliver the streaming video to endpoints in real time. If the router is receiving M connection tracks that each contain streaming video, where M is greater than N, than the router can proactively drop M-N of the connection tracks in order to deliver the N connection tracks in real time.

FIG. 1 details an exemplary system that supports the functionality described above. In particular, FIG. 1 illustrates a network 100 in which a network switch 16 of router 102 connects start points 104A with endpoints 104B. Each of devices 104 can be any network device, such as a computer, a printer, another network switch, or the like. Switch 16 transfers (routes) data, such as connection tracks, between devices 104 over channels 106A and 106B, and can also handle an arbitrary number of devices in addition to the devices 104 depicted in FIG. 1. Channels 106 can include fiber optic links, wireline links, wireless links, and the like. In some embodiments, router 102 is a packet router. In some embodiments, router 102 is a flow router.

An exemplary router 102 comprises:

a central processing unit or other form of microcontroller 14;

a system memory 30, for storing system control programs, data, and application programs; system memory 30 may also include read-only memory (ROM) or other forms of computer readable media such as a hard disk drive;

switch circuitry 16 for routing packets and/or flows;

an internal bus 18 or other electronic communication system for interconnecting the aforementioned elements; and

a power source 12 to power the aforementioned elements.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, memory 30 includes a connection track control module 32 for assigning QoS parameters to a connection track based on the data type of the message contained within the connection track. In some embodiments, connection track control module 32 includes instructions for performing any of the methods disclosed herein. Memory 30 further includes a lookup table 34 that can be used to store the QoS parameters 42 of each of the connection tracks 38 that the router 102 is routing at any given time. Lookup table 34 can optionally further store the message data type 40 of each of the connection tracks 38 that the router 102 is routing at any given time. Each of the data structures in memory 30, including lookup table 34 and each of the connection track data structures 38 can comprise any form of stored data including, but not limited to, flat ASCII or binary files, a relational database (SQL), or an on-line analytical processing (OLAP) database (MDX and/or variants thereof). Furthermore, such data structures can be stored in router 102 and/or in a device that is in electronic communication with router 102 over a wide area network such as the Internet, or a local network.

FIG. 3 shows a network 300 that is identical to that of network 100 of FIG. 1 with the exception that more details are given for the connection between router 102 and start points 104A in accordance with a particular exemplary embodiment. In the particular exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, data from start points 104A is provided to router 102 through Internet Service Provider (ISP) 302. Internet Service Provider 302 includes one or more network switches 304 that routes electronic information (e.g., data packets) from start points 104A to router 102 across line 306. Router 102 then routes the packets to end points 104B. Of course, end points 104B can communicate electronic information to start points 104A through the reverse path. In typical embodiments, line 306 is characterized by an access speed that is set by ISP 302. For example, ISP 302 may set a download speed (data flowing to router 102) and a different upload speed (data flowing to ISP 302 from router 102). For example, the download speed may be set at 56 kbits/sec, 64 kbits/sec, 256 kbits/sec, 1.5 Mbits/sec, 5 Mbits/sec, 6 Mbits/sec, 7 Mbits/sec or higher. Upload speed may be set dependently or independently of download speed at 56 kbits/sec, 64 kbits/sec, 256 kbits/sec, 1.5 Mbits/sec, 5 Mbits/sec or higher. Other upload and download speeds are possible as well.

Now that a router 102 in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed in conjunction with FIGS. 1 and 3, an exemplary method for routing will be disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 2.

Step 202. In step 202, one or more network layer or transport layer packets are received. Examples of network layer (also known as the Internet layer) packets include, but are not limited to Internet group management protocol (IGMP) packets, Internet control message protocol (ICMP) packets, Resource ReSerVation Protocol (RSVP) packets, IP security (IPsec) packets, address resolution protocol (ARP) packets, and reverse address resolution protocol (RARP) packets. Examples of transport layer packets include, but are not limited to, transmission control protocol (TCP) packets, user datagram protocol (UDP) packets, datagram congestion control packets (DCCP), stream control transmission protocol (SCTP) packets, and GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP) packets. It will be appreciated that transport layer packets will necessarily include an underling network layer protocol (e.g., TCP/IP). As used, herein, a packet is referred to as a network layer packet when the header of the network protocol within the packet is examined for the purpose of assigning the packet to a connection track even though the packet may include other protocols such as a transport layer protocol. As used herein, a packet is referred to as a transport layer packet when the header of the transport layer protocol within the packet is examined for the purpose of assigning the packet to a connection track even though the packet may include other protocols such as a network layer protocol. Moreover, in some instances, the header of both a network layer and a transport layer protocol encoded in a packet are examined for the purposes of assigning the packet to a connection track. In such instances, the packet may be referred to as a network layer packet or a transport layer packet.

Step 204. In step 204, one or more network layer or transport layer packets received by a router are associated with a first connection track 38 in a plurality of connection tracks based on values in one or more header fields of the respective network layer or transport layer packets. For example, in some embodiments, transmission control packets (TCP) are received and the source port, destination port, and sequence number header TCP headers are examined. TCP packets that have the same source port, destination port, and a unique sequence number are assigned to the same connection track. It will be appreciated that at any given time, router 102 will receive data packets for more than one connection track. In such instances, step 204 assigns packets to different connection tracks 38 so that each connection track 38 comprises packets that encode the same message. For example, a first set of packets received by the router 102 that contain a first message will be designated as a first connection track 38 whereas a second set of packets received by the router that contain a second message will be designated as a second connection track 38.

Steps 206-210. In step 206, one or more of the network layer or transport layer packets assigned to a particular connection track 38 are encoded with a wrapper. The wrapper identifies the packets as belonging to the particular connection track 38. In step 208, a data structure is added to lookup table 34 for the first connection track. In typical embodiments, the data structure added in step 208 uniquely represents the particular data structure. Thus, the data structure is given the same reference 38 as the particular connection track 38 that it represents. For example, referring to FIG. 1, connection track 38-1 in lookup table 34 represents connection track 38-1, connection track 38-2 represents connection track 38-2, and so forth. In step 210, a pointer to the data structure in the lookup table that represents the particular connection track is placed in the wrapper of each of the one or more of the network layer or transport layer packets assigned to the particular connection track. In this way, the identity of the connection track that incoming packets belong to is stored in an efficient manner in the data packets that make up the connection track.

Step 212. In step 212, a determination is made as to whether the packets in a given connection track include a predetermined application layer protocol. A predetermined application layer protocol is one in which the data type of the connection track can be conclusively determined from the identity of the application layer protocol itself. The application layer is the seventh level of the seven-layer open systems interconnection basic reference model (OSI reference model or OSI model for short). It interfaces directly to and performs common application services for the application processes. It also issues requests to the presentation layer. The OSI model is a layered, abstract description for communications and computer network protocol design, developed as part of open systems interconnection (OSI) initiative. It is also called the OSI seven layer model and is described in ISO 7498 and its various addenda.

Advantageously, not all of the packets in the connection track need to be examined in step 212. In some embodiments, only a single packet in the connection track is examined for the purpose of identifying an application protocol. Examples of application protocols include, but are not limited to, dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP), domain name system (DNS) protocol, file transfer protocol (FTP), gopher, multipurpose Internet mail extension protocol, post office protocol version 3 (POPS) protocol, session initiation protocol (SIP) protocol, simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), simple network management protocol (SNMP), secure shell (SSH) protocol, teletype network (TELNET) protocol, border gateway protocol (BGP), remote procedure call (RPC) protocol, real-time transport protocol (or RTP), transport layer security (TLS) protocol, secure sockets layer (SSL) protocol, session description protocol (SDP, RFC 4566), and simple object access protocol (SOAP, service oriented architecture protocol). If the packets contain a predetermined protocol (212—Yes), process control passes to step 216, otherwise (212—No), process control passes to step 214.

In some embodiments, the identification of a predetermined application protocol (212—Yes) comprises determining whether one or more packets in the connection track contains real-time transport protocol (RTP) information. In some embodiments, one or more packets contain real-time transport protocol (RTP) information and the identification of a predetermined application protocol (212—Yes) further comprises (i) determining that the connection track encodes video data when the one or more packet use the real-time streaming transport (RTSP) protocol and (ii) determining that the connection track encodes voice data when the H.323 protocol is used within the one or more packets.

In some embodiments, the TCP or UDP port number on which the router received the connection track is used in conjunction with the identification of any of the aforementioned protocol types to determine the data type of the message encoded in the connection track. As illustrated in Table 1 below, much information about the protocol used, and therefore data type of the message encoded in the connection track, can be determined by the identity of the port used to transmit the connection track to the router.

TABLE 1 Services typically associated with particular TCP and UDP ports Service TCP UDP Notes SSH 22 Secure Shell HTTP 80 HyperText Transfer Protocol * (e.g. for web browsing). Currently (2003-07-05) HTTP/1.1 is officially described in RFC 2616. HOSTS2 Name 81 81 Server XFER Utility 82 82 RPC Endpoint 135 135 registered as “epmap - DCE endpoint Mapper resolution”. Used by Microsoft for RPC locator service. LDAP 389 389 Lightweight Directory Access Protocol * MS NetMeeting LDAP or ULP, dyn >=1024 Videoconferencing dyn >=1024, 1503, H.323 HostCall, MS ICCP Timbuktu 407, 1417-1420 407 remote control SLP 427 427 Service Location Protocol; Used by MacOS and NetWare. HTTPs 443 secure HTTP (SSL) LPD/printer 515 515 Printing; LPD stands for Line Printer Daemon. ULP 522 522 User Location Protocol (Microsoft) AppleTalk Filing 548 548 Protocol (AFP) QuickTime 4 RTSP RTP-QT4 streaming audio, video RTSP 554 Real Time Streaming Protocol. Currently (2003-07-05) described in RFC 2326. NNTPs 563 secure NNTP news (SSL) Internet Printing 631 631 print remotely to any IPP enabled Protocol (IPP) printer through the Internet; The Common Unix Printing System (CUPS) is based on IPP. Also see printing section. LDAPs 636 636 secure LDAP; (LDAP protocol over TLS/SSL) Doom 666 666 network game Remotely Possible 799 remote control. CA ControlIT support. (ControlIT) VMware Virtual 902 remote control and viewing of virtual Machine Console machines. vmware-authd. SOCKS 1080 internet proxy; Also used by Trojans. OpenVPN 1194 1194 * Kazaa 1214 1214 peer-to-peer file sharing WASTE 1337 1337 peer-to-peer. Also see InfoAnarchy WASTE FAQ. This port is officially registered for Men and Mice DNS (QuickDNS Remote). Lotus Notes Domino 1352 VocalTec Internet 1490, 6670, 22555 videoconferencing Phone 25793 Citrix ICA 1494, 1604, remote application access dyn >=1023 dyn >=1023 Virtual Places 1533 conferencing, also see VP voice Xing StreamWorks 1558 streaming video Novell GroupWise 1677 1677 group collaboration; NOTE: Other (Remote Client) features of GroupWise use many other ports. H.323 Host Call 1720 1720 H.323 host call PPTP 1723 virtual private network (VPN) MS ICCP 1731 1731 audio call control (Microsoft) MS NetShow 1755 1755, streaming video dyn >=1024 <=5000 MSN Messenger 1863 instant messaging Netopia netOctopus 1917, 1921 1917 network management Big Brother 1984 1984 network monitoring ICU II 2000-2003 videoconferencing iSpQ 2000-2003 videoconferencing glimpseserver 2001 search engine Distributed.Net 2064 distributed computation RC5/DES SoulSeek 2234, 5534 2234, 5534 file sharing Microsoft DirectX 2300-2400, 2300-2400 networked multiplayer games gaming (DirectPlay) 7 47624 Microsoft DirectX 2302-2400, networked multiplayer games; only gaming (DirectPlay) 8 6073 6073 is registered as DirectPlay8 MADCAP - 2535 2535 defined in RFC 2730 - Multicast Multicast Address Address Dynamic Client Allocation Dynamic Client Protocol (MADCAP); Also used by Allocation Protocol Trojans. Netrek 2592 network game ShareDirect 2705 2705 peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing. Officially registered for Sun SDS Administration URBISNET 2745 2745 Borland Interbase 3050 3050 gds_db; See CERT Advisory CA-2001- database 01 for potential security risk. squid 3128 3130 web proxy cache; also used by Trojans. iSNS 3205 3205 Internet Storage Name Service iSCSI default port 3260 3260 SCSI over IP Windows Remote 3389 registered as ms-wbt-server. RDP 5.1 is Desktop Protocol the current version; Remote Desktop (RDP) Web Connection also uses HTTP. NetworkLens SSL 3410 3410 Event Virtual Places Voice 3450, 8000-9000 voice chat Chat Apple iTunes music 3689 3689 Digital Audio Access Protocol sharing (DAAP) World of Warcraft 3724 online game Mirabilis ICQ dyn >=1024 4000 locator, chat Blizzard/Battle.net 4000, 6112-6119 4000, 6112-6119 network gaming - support (captured 2001-11-11), proxy and firewall info Abacast 4000-4100, 4500, peer-to-peer audio and video streaming. 9000-9100 GlobalChat client, 4020 4020 chat rooms, used to be called ichat server PGPfone 4747 secure phone PlayLink 4747, 4748, 6144 online games 10090 radmin 4899 4899 remote control Yahoo Messenger - 5000-5001 5000-5010 voice chat Voice Chat GnomeMeeting H.323 HostCall, 5000-5003, audio and videoconference. 5000-5003 30000-30010 5010-5013 is RTP and RTCP range for this app. Yahoo Messenger - 5050 Messaging; It will try ports 5050, 80, messages any port. SIP 5060 5060 Session Initiation Protocol; For audio and video. Currently (2003-07-05) see RFCs 3261, 3262, 3263, 3264, 3265 Apple iChat AV SIP, RTP- audio and video conferencing; may also iChatAV need iChat local port. Yahoo Messenger - 5100 video Webcams AOL Instant 5190 5190 America OnLine; Also used by Apple Messenger (AIM) iChat (in AIM compatibility mode). AIM Video IM 1024-5000 ? 1024-5000 ? video chat AOL ICQ 5190, messaging dyn >=1024 AOL 5190-5193 5190-5193 America OnLine XMPP/Jabber 5222, 5269 5222, 5269 Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol; Defined by XMPP specs (RFCs now issued), specs created by IETF group. Qnext 5235-5237 5235-5237 audio/video conference, fileshare, everything. Port 5236 is officially assigned to “padl2sim”. iChat local traffic 5298 5298 Multicast DNS 5353 5353 Mac OS X 10.2: About Multicast DNS. Related to Zeroconf which Apple has implemented as Rendezvous. (Note: the regular Domain Name Service port is 53.) Dialpad.com 5354, 7175, dyn >=1024 telephony 8680-8890, 9000, 9450-9460 HotLine 5500-5503 peer-to-peer filesharing. SGI ESP HTTP 5554 5554 SGI Embedded Support Partner (ESP) web server; Also used by Trojans, see SGI Security Advisory 20040501-01-I. InfoSeek Personal 5555 5555 This port is commonly used by HP Agent OpenView Storage Data Protector (formerly HP OmniBack). pcAnywhere 5631 5632 remote control eShare Chat Server 5760 eShare Web Tour 5761 eShare Admin 5764 Server VNC 5800+, 5900+ remote control Blizzard Battle.net 6112 6112 online gaming GNUtella 6346, 6347 6346, 6347 peer-to-peer file sharing Netscape H.323 HostCall, 2327 audioconferencing Conference 6498, 6502 Danware NetOp 6502 6502 remote control Remote Control common IRC 6665-6669 Internet Relay Chat Net2Phone selected 6801, telephony CommCenter selected BitTorrent 6881-6889, 6969 distributed data download, newer versions TCP 6881-6999; Alternate FAQ link. Blizzard World of downloads patches for World of Downloader Warcraft, Warcraft Battle.net and BitTorrent RTP-QT4 6970-6999 Real-time Transport Protocol; These ports are specifically for the Apple QT4 version. VDOLive 7000 user- streaming video specified Real Audio & Video RTSP, 7070 6970-7170 streaming audio and video CU-SeeMe, 7648, 7649, 7648-7652, videoconferencing Enhanced CUSM LDAP 24032 common HTTP 8000, 8001, 8080 Apache JServ 8007 8007 (default port) Protocol v12 (ajp12) Apache JServ 8009 8009 (default port) e.g. Apache mod_jk Protocol v13 (ajp13) Tomcat connector using ajp13. See Workers HowTo for config info. Grouper 8038 8038 peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing PDL datastream 9100 9100 Printing' PDL is Page Description Language. Used commonly by HP printers and by Apple. MonkeyCom 9898 9898 video-chat, also used by Trojans iVisit 9943, 9945, videoconferencing 56768 The Palace 9992-9997 9992-9997 chat environment common Palace 9998 chat environment NDMP 10000 10000 Network Data Management Protocol; Used for storage backup. Also used by Trojans. Amanda 10080 10080 backup software; Also used by Trojans. Yahoo Games 11999 network games Italk 12345 12345 network chat supporting multiple access methods; appears mostly used in Japan. There are many other applications calling themselves “italk”. TrendMicro OfficeScan antivirus also uses this port. Commonly used by Trojans. RTP-iChatAV 16384-16403 Used by Apple iChat AV. RTP 16384-32767 Real-time Transport Protocol; RTP in general is described in RFC 3550. Palm Computing 14237 14238 data synchronization Network Hotsync Liquid Audio 18888 streaming audio FreeTel 21300-21303 audioconferencing VocalTec Internet 22555 22555 audio & document conferencing Conference Quake 26000 26000 network game MSN Gaming Zone 28800-29100 28800-29100 network gaming (zone.com, zone.msn.com), also see DirectPlay 7 and DirectPlay 8 Sygate Manager 39213

Steps 214, 218. Step 214 is reached when the packets examined in step 212 did not contain a protocol that conclusively identified the data type of the message contained by the connection track 38. In such instances, the payload from one or more packets in the connection track is extracted (step 214) and the file structure of the payload is compared to the file structure of known data types (step 218). In some embodiments, the payload from only a single packet is extracted and compared to the file structure of known data types. In some embodiments, the payload from two or more packets of a single connection track 38 are extracted and compared to known file types. In some embodiments, the file format of the one or more data packets is compared to any of the file formats listed in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Nonlimiting exemplary video file formats Extension File format .3g2, .3gp, .3gp2, .3gpp 3GPP Multimedia File .3mm 3D Movie Maker Movie .60d, .ajp CCTV Video Clip .asf Advanced Systems Format File .asx Microsoft ASF Redirector File .avi Audio Video Interleave File .avs Application Visualization System Format .bik BINK Video File .bix, .box Kodicom Video .byu Brigham Young University Movie .cvc cVideo .dce DriveCam Video .dif Digital Interface Format .dir Macromedia Director Movie .divx DivX-Encoded Movie .dv Digital Video File .dvr-ms Microsoft Digital Video Recording .dxr Protected Macromedia Director Movie .eye Eyemail Video Recording .fla Macromedia Flash Animation .flc FLIC Animation .fli FLIC Animation .flv Flash Video .flx FLIC Animation .gl, .grasp GRASP Animation .gvi Google Video File .gvp Google Video Pointer .ifo DVD-Video Disc Information .imovieproject iMovie Project .ivf Indeo Video Format File .ivs Internet Streaming Video .izz Isadora Patch .lsf Streaming Media Format .lsx Streaming Media Shortcut .m1v MPEG-1 Video File .m2v MPEG-2 Video .m4e MPEG-4 Video File .m4u MPEG-4 Playlist .m4v iTunes Video File .mjp MJPEG Video File .mkv Matroska Audio/Video File .moov, .mov Apple QuickTime Movie .movie QuickTime Movie .mp4 MPEG-4 Video File .mpe MPEG Movie File .mpeg, .mpg MPEG Video File .mpv2 MPEG-2 Video Stream .msh Visual Communicator Project File .mswmm Windows Movie Maker Project .mvb Multimedia Viewer Book Source File .mvc Movie Collector Catalog .nvc NeroVision Express Project .ogm Ogg Vorbis Video File .omf Open Media Framework .prproj Premiere Pro Project .prx Windows Media Profile .qt Apple QuickTime Movie .qtch QuickTime Cache File .rm Real Media File .rmvb RealVideo Variable Bit Rate .rp RealPix Clip .rts RealPlayer Streaming Media .rts QuickTime Real-Time Streaming Format .scm ScreenCam Recording .smil Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language .smv VideoLink Mail Video .spl FutureSplash Animation .ssm Standard Streaming Metafile .svi Samsung Video File .swf Macromedia Flash Movie .tivo TiVo Video File .vdo VDOLive Media File .vfw Video for Windows .vid QuickTime Video .viewlet Qarbon Viewlet .viv VivoActive Video File .vivo VivoActive Video File .vob DVD Video Object .vro DVD Video Recording Format .wm Windows Media .wmd Windows Media Download Package .wmv Windows Media Video File .wmx Windows Media Redirector .wvx Windows Media Video Redirector

In some embodiments the HTTP, FTP, or HTTPS protocol is identified in the examined packets and the payload of one or more packets in the connection track are examined to determine if the message encoded in the connection track is video on demand by comparing the file structure of the payload of the one or more packets to the file structure of predetermined video on demand formats. In some embodiments, the RTSP, MMS, RTP unicast, RTP multicast, HTTP, or UDP protocol is identified in the examined packets and the payload of one or more packets in the connection track are examined to determine if the message encoded in the connection track is real-time streaming video by comparing the file structure of the payload of the one or more packets to the file structure of predetermined real-time streaming video formats.

Step 216. Step 216 is reached when the data type encoded in the packets inspected in step 212 includes a predetermined application protocol. In one example, the predetermined protocol is a multimedia streaming protocol such as real-time streaming protocol (RTSP), real-time transport control (RTP), real-time transport control (RTCP), or multimedia messaging service (MMS) and when such a protocol is found in the connection track packets, the data type of the message contained within the connection track is deemed to be real-time streaming video. In some embodiments, the packets must contain RTSP or MMS in order for the data type of the message contained within the connection track to be deemed real-time streaming video. In some embodiments, when the packets include the RTP and H.323 protocols, the connection track is deemed to be voice.

Steps 212, 214, 216, and 218 serve to identify a data type of the message encoded in a connection track. One of skill in the art will appreciate that there are many possible variants to steps 212, 214, 216, and 218. For instance, it is possible in some embodiments to always compare the payload of one or more packets in the connection track to know data types and never examine packet headers for the presence of predetermined application layer protocols. Further, in some embodiments, it is possible to always look at packet headers for the presence of predetermined application layer protocols as well as to always compare the payload of one or more data packets in the connection track to known data formats. Furthermore, any method for conclusively determining the data type of the message encoded within the connection track is within the scope of the present application, including methods that do not involve determining the presence of a predetermined application protocol in the header of one or more packets in the connection track or examination of the packet payload of one or more packets in the connection track.

Step 220. By the time step 220 is reached, the data type of the message in the connection track is known. In step 220, QoS parameters are assigned to the connection track based upon this data type. Exemplary data types include, but are not limited to, real-time streaming video, video on demand, audio data, a photographic image, an executable binary program, and HTML. Exemplary QoS parameters that can be set for a connection track include, but are not limited to, any combination of queue requirement, path designation, and router processor requirements.

The queue requirement QoS parameter refers to any of one or more queue related QoS parameters including, but not limited to, buffer size required by the connection track, maximum allowable delay tolerated by the connection track and/or the bandwidth requirements of the connection track. For example, more intensive connection track message data types such as real-time streaming video require higher bandwidths. As an additional example, connection tracks message data types such as real-time streaming audio require reduce allowable delay.

The path designation QoS parameter refers to the router path that should be used by a connection track. A slow router path is used for non-timing critical connection track data types such as FTP downloads. A fast router path is used for either timing critical connection track message types such as real-time streaming video, real-time audio, and/or connection tracks that contain a large amount of data. In some embodiments, the path designation QoS parameter is assigned a value in a value range, where one end of the value range indicates a fast router path (e.g., bypass the router processor or use a hardware-specified fast router path) and the other end of the value range indicates a slow router path (e.g., do not bypass the router processor and do not use a hardware-specified fast router path). Thus, for example, in some embodiments, the path designation QoS parameter is a number in the range between 1 and 4 includes, where 1 indicates the slowest router path and 4 indicates the fastest router path. In such embodiments, a connection track that encodes a message whose data type is real-time streaming video could be assigned a path designation QoS parameter of “4” whereas a connection track that encodes a message whose data is an executable binary could be assigned a path designation QoS parameter of “1”.

The router processor requirement QoS parameter provides an indication of the amount of router processor power that will be required to route the connection track 38. The router processor requirement QoS parameter is advantageous because it can be used by connection track control module 32 to determine whether the router can handle the connection track. For example, if the router processor 14 is already fully utilized processing other connection tracks, than module 32 can make the decision to completely drop a new connection track with computationally intensive router processor requirements.

The queue requirement, path designation, and router processor requirement QoS parameters are merely exemplary parameters that can be constructed for a given connection track 38. In some embodiments, the data type of the message encoded in the connection track is also stored in the data structure 38 created for the connection track (e.g., element 40 of FIG. 1). In some embodiments, the data type of the message encoded in the connection track is not stored in the data structure 38 created for the connection track (e.g., element 40 of FIG. 1) because such information is redundant to the values of the QoS parameters assigned to the connection track in such embodiments.

Advantageously, QoS parameters can be set for connection tracks without intensive manual intervention. The values of such QoS parameters are determined by the application layer data type of the message encoded in the packets of the connection track. Accordingly, in one embodiment, a first QoS parameter in the one or more QoS parameters associated with a first connection track is set to a first value in a first value range when the message encoded within the connection track is of first data type. The first QoS parameter is set to a second value in a second value range when the message encoded within the connection track is determined to not be of the first data type. In some embodiments, a second QoS parameter in the one or more QoS parameters associated with the first connection track is set to a second value in a second value range when the message encoded within the connection track is determined to be the first data type. Moreover, a third QoS parameter in the one or more QoS parameters associated with the connection track is set to a third value in a third value range when the message encoded in the first connection track is determined to contain the first data type. In some embodiments, the first QoS parameter is a queue requirement, the second QoS parameter is a path designation, and the third QoS parameter is a router processor requirement. In some embodiments, the first data type is real-time streaming video, video on demand, audio data, a photographic image, an executable binary program, or HTML. In some embodiments, the first QoS parameter is a queue requirement, a path designation, or a router processor requirement.

In some embodiments, the data type of the message is real-time streaming video or real-time streaming audio and further characterization of the message is sought in order to assign QoS parameters to the connection track that encodes the message. For instance, if the message is video that has a very low bitrate, than QoS parameters appropriate for the low resolution video are assigned to the connection track that encodes the video. On the other hand, if the message is a video that has a very high bitrate, than QoS parameters appropriate for the high resolution video are assigned to the connection track. In another example, if the message is video that delivers a low number of frames per second, than QoS parameters appropriate for such video are assigned to the connection track that encodes the video. On the other hand, if the message is a video that has a very high number of frames per second, than different QoS parameters appropriate for such video are assigned to the connection track.

In some embodiments, a first QoS parameter associated with a connection track is set to a second value in a first value range when a value of the characteristic is within second value range and the first QoS parameter is set to a third value in the first value range when a value of the characteristic is within a third value range. For example, in some embodiments, the data type is real-time streaming video, the characteristic of the encoded video is a video code bitrate for the encoded video, and the first QoS parameter is a queue requirement, where the queue requirement is set to the second value when the video code bitrate is 0.5 Mbit/second or less. In another example, the data type is real-time streaming video, the characteristic of the encoded video is a video code bitrate for the encoded video, and the first QoS parameter is a queue requirement, where the queue requirement is set to the second value when the video code bitrate is 1.0 Mbit/second or less. In still another example, the data type is real-time streaming video, the characteristic of the encoded video is a video code bitrate for the encoded video, and the first QoS parameter is a queue requirement, where the queue requirement is set to the third value when the video code bitrate is 0.5 Mbit/second or greater. In still another example, the data type is real-time streaming video, the characteristic of the encoded video is a video code bitrate for the encoded video, and the first QoS parameter is a queue requirement, where the queue requirement is set to the third value when the video code bitrate is 1.0 Mbit/second or greater.

Step 222. In step 222, the one or more QoS parameters assigned to the connection track are stored in a data structure 38 constructed for the connection track in lookup table 34. Optionally the data type of the message encoded within the connection track is stored in the data structure as data type 40.

Step 224. In step 224, the connection track is routed through the router by connection track control module 32 in accordance with the QoS parameters 42 of the connection track stored in the lookup table 34. Optionally, the connection track is routed in accordance with the QoS parameters 42 as well as QoS parameters imposed by an Internet Service Provider policy or some other user configurable router QoS policy.

In some embodiments, router 102 monitors the amount of data being downloaded as well as the amount of data being uploaded over line 306. When data is being downloaded to router 102 at a speed that approaches the maximum download speed set by ISP 302, router 102 sends a request to ISP 302 to temporarily increase the maximum download speed set by ISP 302. For example, in some embodiments when data is being downloaded to router 102 at speeds that approach 65 percent, 70 percent, 75 percent, 80 percent, 85 percent, or 90 percent of the maximum download speed, router 102 will send a request to ISP 302 to increase the download speed. In one user case scenario, consider the case where the maximum download speed set by ISP 302 for router 102 is 1.5 Mbits/sec and that data is being downloaded to the router at 1.3 Mbits/sec. Since the rate of 1.3 Mbits/sec approaches the maximum rate set by ISP 302, router 102 sends a request to ISP 302 to temporarily increase the maximum download speed for line 306 to 3 Mbits/sec. Router 102 continues to monitor download rates and can make additional requests to ISP 302 to increase the maximum download speed as needed. Moreover, when router 102 is no longer receiving data at rates that approach the maximum download speed set by ISP 302, router 102 can make a request to ISP 302 to restore the maximum download speed to router 102 to the default speed. This procedure is advantageous because it is performed without the need for intervention from an end-point 104B user or the router 102 administrator.

In some embodiments, ISP 302 rather than router 102 monitors the amount of data being sent to router 102 over line 306 and automatically increases the maximum download speed to router 102 when the amount of data being sent approaches the maximum download speed permitted by the default ISP policy for line 306. In some embodiments, this increase is only performed after receiving permission from router 102. ISP 302 continues to monitor traffic rates after an increase and resets the download speed to the default speed once the amount of data being downloaded no longer approaches or exceeds the default speed.

In some embodiments, router 102 monitors the amount of data being uploaded as well as the amount of data being uploaded over line 306. When data is being uploaded to ISP 302 at a speed that approaches the maximum upload speed set by ISP 302, router 102 sends a request to ISP 302 to temporarily increase the maximum upload speed set by ISP 302. For example, in some embodiments when data is being uploaded to ISP 302 from router 102 at speeds that approach 65 percent, 70 percent, 75 percent, 80 percent, 85 percent, or 90 percent of the maximum upload speed, router 102 will send a request to ISP 302 to increase the upload speed. In one user case scenario, consider the case where the maximum upload speed set by ISP 302 for router 102 is 1.5 Mbits/sec and that data is being uploaded to the ISP 302 from the muter 102 at 1.3 Mbits/sec. Since the rate of 1.3 Mbits/sec approaches the maximum rate set by ISP 302, router 102 sends a request to ISP 302 to temporarily increase the maximum upload speed for line 306 to 3 Mbits/sec. Router 102 continues to monitor upload rates and can make additional requests to ISP 302 to increase the maximum upload speed as needed. Moreover, when router 102 is no longer sending data to ISP 302 at rates that approach the maximum upload speed set by ISP 302, router 102 can make a request to ISP 304 to restore the maximum upload speed to router 102 to the default speed. This procedure is advantageous because it is performed without the need for intervention from an end-point 104B user or the router 102 administrator.

In some embodiments, ISP 302 rather than router 102 monitors the amount of data being sent to ISP 302 over line 306 and automatically increases the maximum upload speed to ISP 302 when the amount of data being sent to ISP 302 approaches the maximum upload speed permitted by the default ISP policy for line 306. In some embodiments, this increase is only performed after receiving permission from router 102. ISP 302 continues to monitor traffic rates after an increase and resets the upload speed to the default speed once the amount of data being uploaded no longer approaches or exceeds the default speed.

It will be appreciated that upload speeds and download speeds have been described as separate embodiments. In fact, in typical embodiments, both upload and download speeds are monitored by router 102 and/or ISP 302 and the maximum rates for upload and download speeds are adjusted when needed in the manner described above.

In some embodiments, step 224 comprises evaluating router 102 load and performing the step of (i) dropping one or more connection tracks 38 based upon a respective value of a QoS parameter 42 associated with each of the one or more connection tracks 38 when the router load exceeds a threshold value and/or (ii) changing the value of each of the QoS parameters thereby reducing traffic through the router 102 and/or (iii) temporarily changing the line 306 upload speed and/or download speed.

In some embodiments, a QoS parameter associated with a connection track is a queue requirement and step 224 comprises evaluating queue status and performing the step of (i) dropping one or more connection tracks from the router when the queue status does not satisfy the first value of the queue requirement and/or (ii) changing the value of the queue requirement thereby reducing traffic through the router and/or (iii) adjusting the maximum upload rate and/or download rate between the router and an Internet Service Provider.

In some embodiments, a QoS parameter associated with a connection track is a router path requirement and step 224 comprises evaluating router path status of a first router path specified by the router path requirement and performing the step of (i) dropping one or more connection tracks from the router when the first router path in the router specified by the router path requirement has insufficient bandwidth for a connection track, and/or (ii) changing a value of a QoS parameter for each of one or more connection tracks thereby reducing traffic through the first router path specified by the router path requirement when the first router path has insufficient bandwidth and/or (iii) adjusting the maximum upload rate and/or download rate between the router and an Internet Service Provider.

Step 226. In step 226, the connection track data structure 38 is removed from the lookup table 34 when the associated connection track has been routed through network switch 16 to the appropriate endpoint 104.

The present invention can be implemented as a computer program product that comprises a computer program mechanism embedded in a computer readable storage medium. Further, any of the methods of the present invention can be implemented in one or more computers or computer systems. Further still, any of the methods of the present invention can be implemented in one or more computer program products. Some embodiments of the present invention provide a computer system or a computer program product that encodes or has instructions for performing any or all of the methods disclosed herein. Such methods/instructions can be stored on a CD-ROM, DVD, magnetic disk storage product, or any other computer readable data or program storage product. Such methods can also be embedded in permanent storage, such as ROM, one or more programmable chips, or one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Such permanent storage can be localized in a server, 802.11 access point, 802.11 wireless bridge/station, repeater, router, mobile phone, or other electronic devices. Such methods encoded in the computer program product can also be distributed electronically, via the Internet or otherwise, by transmission of a computer data signal (in which the software modules are embedded) either digitally or on a carrier wave.

Some embodiments of the present invention provide a computer program product that contains any or all of the program modules or method steps shown in FIGS. 1 and/or 2. These program modules can be stored on a CD-ROM, DVD, magnetic disk storage product, or any other computer readable data or program storage product. The program modules can also be embedded in permanent storage, such as ROM, one or more programmable chips, or one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Such permanent storage can be localized in a server, 802.11 access point, 802.11 wireless bridge/station, repeater, router, mobile phone, or other electronic devices. The software modules in the computer program product can also be distributed electronically, via the Internet or otherwise, by transmission of a computer data signal (in which the software modules are embedded) either digitally or on a carrier wave. It will be appreciated that the application modules and data structures disclosed in FIG. 1 are for the purpose of describing aspects of the present disclosure. In fact, the modules and data structures disclosed in FIG. 1 can be merged into one or more modules and distributed for execution on one or more devices that are in electronic communication with each other. 

What is claimed:
 1. A method of routing a message, the method comprising: at a router, receiving a plurality of network layer or transport layer packets, each packet comprising a header and a payload; at the router: (i) defining a connection track to be a path of a packet that corresponds to the message, (ii) identifying the packet that corresponds to the message based on the packet headers and assigning the identified packet to the connection track, and (iii) identifying a data type of the packet based on the payload; at the router, associating one or more quality of service (QoS) parameters with the connection track based on the data type, and setting a first QoS parameter in the one or more QoS parameters to a first value; at the router, routing the connection track in direct accordance with the one or more QoS parameters, wherein the first QoS parameter is a router path requirement; at the router, routing a plurality of connection tracks; and at the router, evaluating a router path status of a first router path specified by the first QoS parameter.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the router identifies the data type of the packet based on one or more of: (i) determining an application protocol, and (ii) comparing the payload to one or more predetermined data type formats.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the router identifies the data type of the packet based on the application protocol being real-time transport protocol (RTP).
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the data type comprises encoded real-time streaming video, the method further comprising: at the router, determining a characteristic of the encoded real-time streaming video; at the router, setting the first QoS parameter to a second value in a first value range when a value of the characteristic is within a second value range; and at the router, setting the first QoS parameter to a third value in the first value range when a value of the characteristic is within a third value range.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein one of the QoS parameters is a queue requirement that the router sets to said second value when the real-time streaming video code bitrate is 0.5 Mbit/second or less.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein one of the QoS parameters is a queue requirement that the router sets to said third value when the real-time streaming video code bitrate is 1.0 Mbit/second or greater.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at the router, defining a second connection track to be a second packet corresponding to a second message, assigning the second packet to the second connection track based on the packet headers, and identifying a second data type of the second packet based on the payload or application protocol.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the QoS parameters is a queue requirement, a path designation, or a router processor requirement.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the data type comprises real-time streaming video, video on demand, real-time streaming audio, audio data, a photographic image, an executable binary program, or HTML.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at the router, encoding a subset of packets with a wrapper and storing the first QoS parameter in the wrapper.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at the router, encoding the packet with a wrapper, storing the one or more QoS parameters in a lookup table, and storing in the wrapper a pointer to the one or more QoS parameters in the lookup table.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the lookup table comprises the QoS parameters—for a plurality of connection tracks in the router.
 13. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising: at the router, routing a plurality of connection tracks; at the router, evaluating a load of the router; at the router, performing one or more of (i) dropping one or more of the connection tracks based upon the first value for the first QoS parameter when the router load exceeds a threshold value; (ii) changing a first value of a QoS parameter for one or more of the connection tracks thereby reducing traffic through the router; and (iii) temporarily setting a new maximum upload and/or a new maximum download rate between an Internet Service Provider and the router.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein one of the QoS parameters is a queue requirement, the method further comprising: at the router, routing a plurality of connection tracks; at the router, evaluating a queue status of the router; and at the router, performing one or more of (i) dropping one or more of the connection tracks from the router when the queue status does not satisfy the first value of the first QoS parameter; (ii) changing a first value of a QoS parameter for one or more of the connection tracks thereby reducing traffic through the router; and (iii) temporarily setting a new maximum upload and/or a new maximum download rate between an Internet Service Provider and the router.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embedded with a computer executable program including instructions for: causing a router to receive a plurality of network layer or transport layer packets, each packet comprising a header and a payload; causing the router to: (i) define a connection track to be a path of a packet corresponding to the message, (ii) identify the packet that corresponds to the message based on the packet headers and assign the identified packet to the connection track, and (iii) identifying a data type of the packet based on the payload; causing the router to associate one or more quality of service (QoS) parameters with the connection track based on the data type, and to set a first QoS parameter in the one or more QoS parameters to a first value; causing the router to route the connection track in direct accordance with the one or more QoS parameters, wherein the first QoS parameter is a router path requirement; causing the router to route a plurality of connection tracks; and causing the router to evaluate a router path status of a first router path specified by the first QoS parameter.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions for causing the router to identify the data type of the packet comprise instructions for: (i) causing the router to identify the application protocol, or (ii) causing the router to compare the payload to one or more predetermined data type formats.
 17. A router for routing data packets corresponding to a message, the router comprising: a processor; and a memory, coupled to the processor, the memory storing instructions for execution by said processor, said instructions comprising instructions for: receiving a plurality of network layer or transport layer packets, each packet comprising a header and a payload; creating a connection track by: (i) defining a connection track to be a path of the packet corresponding to the message, (ii) identifying the packet that corresponds to the message based on the packet headers and assigning the identified packet to the connection track, and (iii) identifying a data type of the packet based on the payload; associating one or more quality of service (QoS) parameters with the connection track based on the data type, and setting a first QoS parameter in the one or more QoS parameters to a first value; routing the connection track in direct accordance with the one or more QoS parameters, wherein the first QoS parameter is a router path requirement; routing a plurality of connection tracks; and evaluating a router path status of a first router path specified by the first QoS parameter.
 18. The router of claim 17, wherein the instructions for identifying the data type of the packet comprise instructions for: (i) identifying the application protocol, or (ii) comparing the payload to one or more predetermined data type formats.
 19. The router of claim 17, wherein the memory further stores a lookup table, and wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for: encoding the packet with a wrapper; storing the one or more QoS parameters for the connection track in the lookup table; and storing a pointer to the one or more QoS parameters for the connection track in the wrapper.
 20. The router of claim 19, wherein the memory further comprises instructions for purging the lookup table of the QoS parameters for a connection track when the router completes routing of the connection track. 